Hi guys, today I'm interviewing Chloe God sell from Crimson education. Hi there
Chloe so said today we're going to look at the question of what you need to
do if you're looking to get into Oxford or Cambridge or if you're looking at
getting your and child or children into Oxford or Cambridge. So you've had a
lot of experience working with clients in connection with education consultancy
and preparing them for the task and could we start this with the overall
picture and what the process and would entail.
Absolutely so for universities like all scan Cambridge the very best in this
country everyone by starting the process as early as possible researching your
options to three or more years in advance would always be advisable that's
to make sure that you're likely to meet the mark and the basic requirements for
entry as an international student so your language capability and your
qualifications very important research
qualifications will indeed be recognised so basic things worth checking. The
Oxford and Cambridge the process is much the same for international students as
it is for domestic but there are certain things that differ
namely as I said making sure that you meet the basic requirements for your
course especially and that you can demonstrate knowledge above and beyond
what might be expected and the students at your level navigation itself starts
in the autumn it all goes through you can switch is the university application
portal for all universities you submit a personal statement all of your grade
transcripts your reference all of that goes through in the early autumn you
would then be invited interview if you are shortlisted some universities
outside Watson Cambridge will allow students to answer questions and
a questionnaire remotely either by email or telephone the vast majority of
students would be expected to attend interviews in person if you're you may
know something about this time but if you're a busy national an outside of
Europe that can't obtain a visa in time for an interview the university is
likely to be a bit more lenient that I would always say you know show up be
there be present demonstrate yourself in person there's nothing quite like sort
of giving yourself that opportunity and these universities to put a huge amount
of rates on preparation you can sin and your natural and I've heard I've heard
all kinds of bizarre stories about what can be asked at not sort of temperature
interview I mean what's is your what's the experience of your clients wonderful
yes I mean absolute Cambridge are known before asking questions that are
designed to test students in new ways but what they are really looking for is
depth of knowledge and I think about more intellectual curiosity a real
wholehearted genuine love your subject and knowledge outside of the ordinary
parameters of that subject so be prepared to answer questions that aren't
directly related but the perhaps sort of demonstrate your wider reading one very
important thing to be doing in preparation is needing widely around
your subject news related subjects nothing is off-limits got it got it and
in terms of preparation when should one look to start preparing and that goes
for domestic students as well certainly because in Cambridge at least deciding
that this is a route for you as early as possible would be recommended the reason
being it's very importantly or right headspace you've got a clear sense
for what your objective is you can start researching the colleges and crucially
your subjects there are certain subjects that are the unique Oxford and Cambridge
do your research read about them find out as much as you possibly can and of
course make sure the more English spoken English is up to scratch that is
something from from a parent's perspective perhaps with a younger child
who's showing signs pubs have being gifted or highly intelligent or as
promised that it may be you know ten eleven twelve that sort of age range
what can one do as a parent for that sort of prospective international
student to prepare over you know a number of years it's a very good
question I mean it's going to differ slightly from student to student but
what I would always say with Oxford and Cambridge is it's about demonstrating
real love and depth of knowledge for one particular subject area so not
necessarily breadth subjects very deeply so earliest opportunity taking extra
classes in that subject if you're a mathematician and you might do some
coding you might set up a stem society it's really about showing that you're
not for that subject is very marine tea and and that it started very there's no
doubting that you need to demonstrate a clear-cut ability and intelligence but
what they also like to see is that you're going out of your way to really
nurture that long outside of the classroom in subject area and and you
can't start too early even something as simple as chess you know I've worked
with lots of students that start chest very very young and that's a wonderful
skill to have for many different reasons
yeah that's great and would it be possible for you to talk about like a
case study maybe of a family or a student that you
as a way of introducing and talking about your services absolutely we've
worked with students coming into the UK from all over the world the reason that
the higher education here is is so good you know we want to families for example
at least an hour tasks will be from go with the younger students as you said
nurturing from the start that we will often be tasked with developing language
with nurturing interests outside of the classroom you know perhaps taken
tutoring in encoding chess or a musical instrument and then following through
and providing strategic support with those university applications and that
is really at the heart for me - phenomenal experts on hand able to
support with all aspects of the process from she's been where to apply outlining
the process for you you know as an international students know it's not
easy it's not easy wherever you come from it's a huge processing commitment
so we try to break that down and make that simple for you and make sure you've
got everything you need to transfer success and I mean this time of year is
no doubt a busy one for you because we're approaching September I'm just
together so snapshot into the work that you're doing what what sort of thing are
you doing now as we're well into August well into August pedaling away getting
things ready for the start of the academic year a lot of our work relates
to schools so we spend a huge amount of time building relationships with
fantastic schools here in the UK providing support in house to students
delivering talks and so on so a lot of time spent doing that I'm and then
internal sales teams helping families get ready for their ahead so if you're
entering your year 12 years at sea you know really the stakes are very high
it's very important that I ask you mr. tidwell's so we're providing a lot of
momentum there's a lot of can be a lot of panic so we step in to try and
alleviate some of that yeah that's great and in terms of the choice between
Oxford and Cambridge do you have any comments on preference or you know
differences advantages that's an interesting one I wouldn't have said so
on a basic level really the choice is going to come down to probably one key
thing at least to begin with and that is your subject choice I would always say
be guided by what we want to study the course is different in various ways make
sure like we all matter the content of the course even if it has the same title
that should give you an indication as to which is likely to be the better choice
be led by academic imperative secondary to that of course is location and making
surely like the look and feel of the universe you can't underestimate how
that is getting there seeing it feeling it in visiting yourself then there is an
incredibly important part and one other thing you know going that subject choice
being led by that is also the academics in Cambridge and some of the world's
most renowned academics in their field operate universities many many students
will select their course based on who it is these course yeah so doing a lot
wider research into who it is the poorest faculty is another thing I would
recommend yeah and in terms of the threshold if if someone's priority or
the family's priority is simply you know to get to get in is there I mean in your
experience have have there been varying thresholds of difficulty if you like in
terms of interview and actually getting in when you come
different colleges or different subjects I mean I appreciate that some subjects
are kind of into an intrinsically gift or if you like if it's mass for example
but perhaps differ any differences between science and humanities or
particular subjects I given a very good question I wouldn't have said so in our
experience you know all subjects are going to be assessed slightly
differently you know and you you know there are sort of like different lines
of questioning depending on your subject as to the colleges you know there will
be different quotas it's a different number of students being accepted into
different colleges and for various subjects but you know in terms of the
threshold you know from what I've experienced with students that fresh
hold is high similarly scrupulous approach to admission at these
universities rightly so because the traditions are so so good and make sure
those I would expect a very rigorous process of application whatever your
subject and I've seen that in everything from
oriental studies to land economy and PPE it really does what about and what about
great I mean are there certain grades where you look at the student and you
would just say look this isn't worth pursuing I'm I mean in the UK there's
been a an alleged tendency to give students higher grades and as you know
there's a lot of discussion as to whether that's a lowering of the
standards or whether students generally are performing better but there was a
there was a time I think this is still the case we're getting some straight A's
and so on was typical and then it's kind of perhaps more difficult from the
university's perspective to differentiate people and I imagine you
deal with a lot of students who have the International Baccalaureate right we do
yes so are there any sort of if someone is thinking you know okay are my great
good enough to be considered for Oxford and Cambridge do you have any comments
around that in terms of grades um well yes I mean I think when it comes to
asking Cambridge its it's really about managing expectation and and it seemed
no one's interests to sort of gloss over the fact that you need to be at the top
of your game if you don't have and can't demonstrate ability in your chosen
subjects your chances will be slimmer because the that said you know if there
are reasons why for example you've not been able to grades that you hoped you
might extenuating domestic circumstances
illness universities will always take these things into account that includes
Oxford Cambridge so if there are reasons at home perhaps being able to achieve
your grades then that's always worth sort of thinking about taking some time
to reflect on and communicating to the University to reply as a rule you know
we would be looking you know supporting students apply to universities that are
achieving you know a grades across the board and we'll have done throughout
secondary education such is the sort of standard for the vast majority of these
courses and and you know I think the approach that we would always take is
that we want to maximize your chance of success in applying to a great
university it may be the roxanna Cambridge is not for you and it's it's
not for everyone they are very much on a time and certain types of learners might
welcome better off somewhere else so just having a sort of realistic view of
what the competition like and whether it's worth putting
yourself through what is likely to be quite an amorous and grueling process if
you just don't have those grades it's worth letting that start of the process
got it got it I'm so thanks so much oh that's really helpful I'm over for
you we do you have any like last comments or or points that I move mr.
Mike in my question I don't think so I think I would simply say to anyone
that's interested in applying to the UK obsolete Cambridge or anyone else you
know start the process early don't leave it for the eleventh hour we see that all
too often and it can so drastically impact your chances of success start
early if you can come and see the universities there's nothing like seeing
them in the flesh cutting time time see them in action and get a real thanks
thanks so much so um thank you very much go yet guys if you have any needs for a
free consultation if you'd like I'm some assistance with relocating to the UK and
where you're considering Oxford or Cambridge or other top universities
either for yourself or for your children and then Chloe would be happy to assist
I'm happy to assist with any of the immigration piece I do work with a lot
of younger people on tier four applications and also the exceptional
talent visa and the other related visas so you can get in contact with me below
if you want to speak with me and Chloe I'm Chloe is from Crimson Education and
she'd be very happy to assist and thanks very much and we'll say bye for now.